So far we were clear; nothing followed us into the air. However a battle was about to take place on the sand. The water dragons had not been emerging just for us, and a pissing contest was about to erupt. They didn’t want the bear-monkeys on their sand. Which was great for us and as long as nothing was in the air.
A blur whooshed past us. Okay, note to self: don’t speak or think here. Faerie land had an asshole sense of humor. My head snapped to the side as I tried to see what was coming at us. Braxton was doing the same; his large eyes and advanced sight would be picking up far more than I could. Another blur flew by, this time much closer. I shot to my feet, both hands resting on the scaled back so I could keep my balance. If I had to fight I needed to be up and ready.
Braxton roared again. I jumped a mile and almost slipped off his back, catching my balance at the last moment and orientating myself again.
Wafts of simmering air surrounded me, as smoke emerged from Braxton’s mouth and nostrils. This was followed by his flames, a long, uninterrupted plume of red and blue fire. The heat that came after was extreme … I swear my skin started to bubble a little. On occasion he forgot that fire was fluid, and that it could spew back on me.
Shadowy shapes flew in from all sides, and I finally got a decent look at what we were facing. A giant eagle – long feathered wings, sharp talons, and a beak which looked lethal. Riding on its back were demi-fey, not exactly like any we had on Earth, but I still recognized the otherness of them. In fact, judging by their long hair, claws and screeching, they were my first glimpse of the famous battle-hungry harpies, female warriors who were well known for their bloodthirsty nature.
As Braxton caught sight of a harpy about to launch herself off the eagle and at his head, he let out another blast of fire. She ducked the flames, somehow managing to stay on her bird. While that distraction came at us front-on, two flanked me on either side. I rose to my full height; Braxton was sort of hovering, so it wasn’t hard to keep my footing. A harpy flung herself at me. I braced myself, calling on my wolf for extra speed and dexterity.
Just before the creature’s claws were to pummel into me, I shot both hands out and attached to the harpy’s forearms, spinning in a half circle and releasing her off into the air. The second hit me from behind and together we tumbled down. Thank the gods Braxton was a massive monster and had a broad back; otherwise that hit would have sent us both free falling. We scrambled to our feet, and I finally got a good look at the demi-fey.
They were definitely female, their bird-like features holding a semblance of a humanoid shape, hunched over a little in the shoulders and with defined breasts and hips. Her skin was gray and leathery looking – I guessed tough and hard to penetrate. Small, squinty eyes watched me as we circled each other. Braxton was still keeping the others at bay with claws, teeth and flames. My opponent opened her beak-like mouth and squawked at me.
“I don’t speak bird … or bitch,” I snarled at her. Not a total lie, I really didn’t speak bird, but I was damned fluent in bitch. Some would say expert levels.
The harpies didn’t appear to have any weapons, but seeing how lethal their hands looked, they mightn’t need any. I loosed some of my shifter energy and transformed my hands into claws.
It was on, bird-biatch. We were going to rumble.
Her movements were strong and confident as she took a large step across the scaled hide and came in swinging. I knew her style of fighting – direct, no illusions, so I was ready for that first move. I had my hands up protecting my face. I deflected her jab, mindful of how sharp her clawed hands looked.
Wide eyes and a snarl were my indication she had not expected me to match her in speed or strength. She clearly hadn’t fought a shifter before. I came back at her straight away, my jab combo slipping past her defense and clipping her chin. She shrieked as her head jerked back – this wasn’t a sparring match, I was not tempering my strength at all. I followed my punches with a roundhouse kick, which was harder than it looked considering I was on the back of a flying dragon. I knew Braxton would have landed to help me, but there were even more enemies on the ground.
My kick hit her in the gut, and it was enough momentum to fling her over the side. I threw myself down and crawled to see over Braxton’s edge, watching as she fell, her face contorted in fear, but there were no more shrieks. She took it like a warrior.
Right at the last minute, before she was about to become harpy pancake, her eagle caught her. I pushed myself up. Braxton was flying again, his movements reasonably smooth, although without my wolf reflexes I’d definitely have fallen by now.